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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23616976">Sleep-walk Close To Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkbringer/pseuds/Hawkbringer'>Hawkbringer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hannibal (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dubcon Cuddling, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Nightmares, Short &amp; Sweet, Sleepwalking Will Graham</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:54:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,001</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23616976</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkbringer/pseuds/Hawkbringer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hannibal senses Will's nightmare, catches him from stumbling down the stairs and out the door into the darkness, and brings him back to bed, petting and cuddling him in precisely the way Will needs, precisely the way Hannibal has molded him to need. (originally written July 31st 2015 or earlier)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sleep-walk Close To Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Will sleepwalks a whole bunch in canon, and he has also walked all the way to Hannibal's house in altered states of consciousness - and we all know how much Hannibal likes to /observe/ Will Graham during his moments of altered states of consciousness... So why wouldn't Will Graham be coerced into sleeping at Hannibal's house?</p>
<p>They would not /go on a date/, no, as the Will-actor Hugh Dancy so blithely suggested in that /one/ interview I watched. (Like, /one/. Srsly.) They would continue to live together and cook together, talk and laugh together. </p>
<p>And when night fell, and Will would have a nightmare (and Hannibal's been doing this thing all along where he only really touches Will when Will is really deep, really far gone, and /needs/ it, needs to be grounded) then Hannibal would be there to place his hands on him, to ground him, and steer him back to bed.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So Will, somewhere living in Hannibal's house, is crying or screaming or just thumping around and Hannibal wakes up and hears him. Or has killed someone today/Will stumbled across someone today who was killed via a method that triggers Will's nightmares/insecurities or something. Say Hannibal was /waiting/, with a baby monitor or something, listening for Will to have a nightmare. </p>
<p>Or, Will is sleepwalking, (caused by empathy burn-out on this most recent case,) and Hannibal catches him at the door and murmurs to him as he steers him back to bed. </p>
<p>If Will is still asleep at this point, Hannibal would gently, quietly, put him to bed, and pull up the covers over him, and get in the bed himself so Will would wake up in the morning next to Hannibal and his smile and perhaps Hannibal's touching, and be oh so very grounded by his presence and his fingers.</p>
<p>If Will wakes up rather violently in Hannibal's arms, trying to break out of the house, or hallucinating that Hannibal is a victim he/the murderer is trying to kill, then Han would catch him as he fell and lay him in Han's bed and talk him down from the shock and put his hands all over Will's face and shoulders as he did it; laying him down and covering him with his blankets and sheets and murmuring to him that it's all okay, not to worry. </p>
<p>And Will would protest, but not too mightily because he'd be tired and disoriented and Hannibal would be /touching him/ in precisely the way he /needs/. </p>
<p>And he might say something groggy and painfully true like, "My dogs can't give me this," or something to that effect. </p>
<p>Han would smile, and tilt Will's head back at the nape of his neck with one hand and lean more fully over him and open his mouth and Will would close his damn eyes and /whimper/ and Han would shut his mouth then. </p>
<p>His other hand slides down Will's chest, which lifts with breath to press into the touch. And, oh, Han can't help but smile at that, can he? He lifts his fingers away, just barely, to watch Will's breath catch and the boy's face pull into just a momentary expression of dismay - then puts his hand back. </p>
<p>He lets it lay there, palm to solar plexus, as he unshuffles the bedclothes with his other hand and slides in, one leg at a time, beside Will.</p>
<p>Will trembles and twists and cannot seem to decide whether to lean closer or twist away and attempt to maintain some semblance of propriety. </p>
<p>Han doesn't let him get very far before he draws Will closer with both hands on his face and his smile is gentle and calm. </p>
<p>Will feels his /soul/ throb in his chest as he stares at Hannibal, unable to take his eyes from him now that they've connected. He's seeing /too much/ this time. </p>
<p>"Too much. Too...too... too much," he mutters, gulping between words, eyes going wide with fear and animal panic. </p>
<p>Hannibal, in response, closes his eyes roughly and does not remove his hands. He presses harder with them, letting Will feel their weight and strength without the added pressure of his gaze. </p>
<p>His thumbs comb back Will's messy hair and spider restlessly over his skull, confident enough to feel reassuring and not unsettling, not teasing. He is /here/, a solid, steady presence. A rock to lean against.</p>
<p>Will's eyes flutter closed gratefully, drinking in the pressure on his scalp. He debates the merits of thumping his head against Han's chest - pros, more skin contact; cons, dislodge the magical soothing hands. </p>
<p>He cannot work up enough energy to move his /own/ hands at all from where they lie uselessly beside him underneath Hannibal's sheets. He murmurs vague assurances, but the magic word, he discovers, after several attempts to nuzzle closer to his bed-mate, is /more/. </p>
<p>Hannibal reacts immediately to this plea, but only very slowly; dragging his fingers down from Will's head, down his shoulders, and around his back. The leisurely pace leaves trails of gooseflesh on Will's skin, which Hannibal retreats back to multiple times to ghost over appreciatively. </p>
<p>Once he has what he deems a good enough hold on Will's back, he pulls. He lifts Will's upper body clear off the bed and rolls him in mid-motion to collide face-first rather gracelessly with Han's own silk-clad chest. </p>
<p>"Sleep, my dear," he murmurs, petting Will's hair again. His free hand roams Will's back, sliding through the faint but noticeable hairs, making Will writhe. </p>
<p>The younger man manages enough coordinated muscle movement to flop further forward over Han's chest and bury his neck into the other's shoulder. An involuntary, high-pitched whine escapes him. He sounds /embarrassed/, of all things. </p>
<p>Han shushes him with more vigorous head massaging. The boy will need a shower in the morning to strip the extra oils out. Hannibal is looking forward to that spectacle.</p>
<p>Will eventually quiets, ceases his puppy-like wriggling for comfort, draped indolently across Hannibal's chest. There's nowhere Hannibal would rather he be.</p>
<p>Cradled in his house-mate's arms, Will sleeps a more restful sleep than he has had in /months/. </p>
<p>------</p>
<p>Upon waking, he jokes that he should move into Hannibal's bed permanently, if such restful sleep is his reward. Hannibal responds that he would not have a problem with that. </p>
<p>Will scoffs at him as he swaggers off towards the en-suite bathroom, avoiding the testosterone-fueled action movie cliche of shouting over his shoulder 'Want to join me?' by just the skin of his teeth. </p>
<p>He sucks in his lips as he closes the door, changing his mind at the last second and leaving it just slightly ajar. </p>
<p>Hannibal has never /asked/ Will's permission to touch him, after all. Will has never been in a mental state conducive to consenting when Hannibal has taken those liberties, in the past. But perhaps the man would take well to being shown more blatant signs. </p>
<p>Will is right.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(and then shower sex)</p>
<p>Thank the great quarantine for the posting of this lil gem.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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